


Misadventures of Loopholes and Lost Time

by TheLionGirl (KissMySelfie)



Series: Misadventures [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-23 01:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17673587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KissMySelfie/pseuds/TheLionGirl
Summary: A fix-it for Misadventures of Alien's Drinks and TimeTravel==“Miss Lance?” Renee jumps at Gideon’s voice as enters the Waverider.“Gideon.”“It’s been a while, Miss Lance. The Legends are not here in the moment.” Renee knows that. It’s the reason she is there in the first place. “Is something wrong, Miss Lance?”“Actually, I need your help, Gideon.”





	Misadventures of Loopholes and Lost Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, it's been... too long. Yeah, sorry about that.  
> Anyways, this is the promised continuation. I hope you enjoy it. If there's anything confusing, let me know and I'll be more than happy to explain/correct it.  
> As always, English is not my first language.

Sara had been expecting that day for a while. Since Jude started wearing that Alex’s old jacket and looking each time more like her mom. Sara had rehearsed what to say several times in the mirror, but preparation could only help so much.

When Jude arrives with a glassy look and make-up stained face, Sara opens her arms – because that’s the first thing you do when your kid comes home crying, no matter what. It takes a few minutes to calm her daughter down, while Sara runs her fingers through Jude’s hair.

“I saw mama,” Jude says.

“I know.” That makes Jude sits up in confusion. Sara takes the opportunity to wipe away the fresh tears on her daughter’s cheek, offering a reassuring smile. “I was there, too.”

“Oh. That’s right.” Confusion doesn’t leave her face, although her words. “Why didn’t you say anything, then?”

“You know the whole time thing? Still confusing as the first time I stepped on that ship. I only know the legends do things and it works. I don’t need to understand how it works. And you… Your mother spent some sleepless nights trying to understand if now that we were ‘fixed’ the future you would have to go back as well. She never came to a conclusion, but we decided to stick to the original story so we wouldn’t mess up time.”

“I wish you had told me.”

“Would it had been easier to see her?”

Jude's eyes meet Sara’s. She's 22 and her mother still can see straight through her.

Of course, this is about Alex. About the fact that probably not many hours ago Jude hugged Alex for the last time. Alex was pregnant back then. 22 years later the memories started to get a bit blurred, but not those months Jude spent in the Waverider with them.

Jude shakes her head. “I almost told her. I- It’s not fair.” Her hands closed into a fist.

They both turn at the sound of the door being unlocked. Renee slides inside dropping her bag by the door. They both watch amusedly as the younger Lance dances her way to the kitchen. She leaves it with a bottle of milk under her arm and a box of cereal on her hand while she goes through her phone with her other hand.

“Shouldn’t you take a bowl too?” Jude asks.

Renee looks up. “Oh. You’re here.”

“With that warm welcoming how could I stay away?”

“You were crying.”

Renee and Jude, some days Sara is sure they might kill each other. At the same time, she isn’t sure that there is a limit they won’t cross for each other.

“You should sit down for this,” Sara says making space for Renee on the couch.

She looks suspiciously from her mother to her sister. That can’t be good.

“You know the story of how your mother and I met?” Sara asks. “Well, it didn’t help exactly like that.”

* * *

 

Renee listens to her mother’s tale – unhelpfully complemented by Jude. There’s no immediate reaction from Renee. She’s harder to read than Jude. And so Sara tries to be careful because Alex has always been a sensitive subject with Renee.

Sara finishes the story and waits for Renee’s reaction.

Renee stands up and starts pacing around the room.

“So, you are telling she got to see mama?” Renee pointed at Jude. “Do you know how many times I wanted to see mama? Do you remember how many times I begged you to take me back just so I could see her, not even talk to her? And you always told me no. That it was too dangerous. And now Jude did it, and she gets a pat on the back and a good work medal? Do you know how unfair that is?”

“It’s not like th-“ Jude begins.

“You don’t get to talk! You knew mama. You were twelve when we lost her. You remember her. I don’t. I have these images that I can’t tell if they are real or made up. You get to look in the mirror every morning and see mama, because you look just like her. You have everything, and I get photos and tales and nothing else. And now you get to go back in time and spend time with her!”

“Renee-“ Sara starts.

“No. You don’t get to talk either. I’m done with this. I’m done with both of you.”

With those words, Renee runs to the door getting her backpack on her way out. Jude gets the door before it’s close, ready to chase after her sister if she has too.

“Leave her,” Sara says. Jude looks in disbelief at her. “She’s upset and us chasing her down won’t make it better. Let’s give her some time and space to cool down. Truth be told, she wasn’t wrong in what she said.”

“I didn’t mean to make her upset. I just thought she’d be happy to know about mom.”

“I know. C’mon, I think this asks for some cocoa.”

Sara makes her way to the kitchen taking with her the milk Renee had left on the couch.

* * *

 

Most of the time Renee is the one to point out bad ideas, which is why she knows this is one of them. Maybe the worst idea she ever had. It will probably be the cause of her death, but then again she is a Lance. They stare into the eyes of death and spit on its’ face. Well, maybe not spit because that is rude and disgusting, but she isn’t afraid of it.

(Well, maybe a little bit.)

It is such a bad idea, her mind keeps repeating. She’d end up fucking it up. Well, the Legends do it all the time, and it turns out alright. It can’t be so bad, can it?

“Miss Lance?” Renee jumps at Gideon’s voice as enters the Waverider.

“Gideon.”

“It’s been a while, Miss Lance. The Legends are not here in the moment.” Renee knows that. It’s the reason she is there in the first place. “Is something wrong, Miss Lance?”

After they moved to Star City for good, Renee hardly visited the Waverider. Jude was the one that jumped at the first opportunity to do it. Sara… Sometimes she went, sometimes she didn’t. Renee just didn’t feel as connected with the ship as the two of them. So she just avoided the place. It hurts too much to remember what it took away from her.

What she’d get back.

“Actually, I need your help, Gideon.”

* * *

It is as risky as she expected it to be. She had to time it correctly. Not one second more or less. And she is not good at math. That is Jude’s thing. Whenever she needed help with math or physics it was Jude she’d go to. Renee is good with… She isn’t good with a lot of things. She almost failed school in the previous year. But she likes music. And spiritual matters. And sociology.

For a moment she questions why the hell she is doing that. She’d get herself killed. She is not the brave one. That is Jude.

She shakes her head.

It’s not the time to have a life crisis. Not only she is too young for that, but she is in the middle of a mission. She looks at the clock. Three and a half seconds. That’s the time between Alex’s last words and the explosion. That’s the gap Renee has to save her.

Renee takes the watch and clicked on it, opening the portal and setting the timer at the same time.

She doesn’t even step outside, just reaches for the figure and pulls them inside the Jumpship before the portal closes. Renee could practically feel the heat of the explosion that followed not a second after.

They made it. They made it just in time.

Renee’s heart is racing. She had done it. And Sara’s is going to kill her, but at least she is alive. She is alive.

And not only her.

Renee looks beside herself. The other figure looks just as out of breath as her, and Renee is completely frozen.

It’s her mother. Her mama. Alex.

Jude was right: she is more beautiful than she looks in those pictures. And she is alive. Renee did it. She saved her. Wow. Renee is so dead, but it was worth it.

“Sara! Are you crazy?” Alex starts. “You-” she stopped actually looking at the girl for the first time. “You’re not Sara.” Still unable to react, Renee just shakes her head. “Not that I’m not thankful for you-” Alex points at where the portal used to be, “saving me, but who are you?”

And Renee has yet to register her words.

“Are you okay?” her mother asks. Renee nods.

“I’m just… I never…”

“Have we met before? You look familiar. You look so much like Sara. And why are you using the Jumpship?”

“I’m Renee.”

Alex stares at her face for some moments. The young Lance waits as her mother connects the dots.

Alex shakes her head. “No, Renee is five.”

“I was. Ten years ago.” She blinks and stares some more. Renee can only take so long before jumping into her mother’s arms. “I missed you so much,” Renee cries into Alex’s shoulder.

“Renee.” Alex holds her back, stroking her short blonde hair. Renee is sure that’s the best feeling in the world. “I- I don’t understand.”

“I couldn’t let you die.”

“I died,” Alex repeats in shock.

“No. I pulled you out. I saved you.”

* * *

Sara gives an hour and a half before calling Renee’s phone. It goes straight to voicemail, but she only starts to worry half an hour later. She had sent a dozen of messages that were left unanswered. Jude tried as well without response. Sara calls Renee’s friends and their parents, and she’s a minute away from calling the police when she remembers to call the Legends.

Renee had never been much involved in it. She left the Waverider too young to grow some kind of attachment to it as Jude did, but they were still family, and it was always safe to run to family.

They drive to Black Canary park, where the Waverider is currently parked and find Zari and Charlie eating some ice cream.

“Hey, Sara,” Zari said.

“Mom,” Charlie greets her in her usual teasing tone. “Is it too much to hope that you two are just going to a nice walk in the park?”

“Actually, we’re looking for Renee.”

“She was talking to us like an hour ago,” Zari says.

“That’s something.” Sara put her hands on her hips. “Wait. What did you talk about?”

“She was asking about loopholes, and Gideon simulation program.”

“Nerd stuff,” Charlie supplied.

Sara looked at Jude and Jude looked back.

“Shit,” they said together. “Waverider.”

They run to the ship, with Charlie and Zari right behind. They don’t even bother to check for civilians watching, they just disappear inside the cloaked time-ship.

Sara runs to the bridge lighting the panel.

“Gideon, where’s Renee?”

“I’m afraid she’s taken the Jumpsuit, Captain Lance.”

“Where did she go?”

“I’m not able to say. She deactivated the TGPS system.” (Time and global positioning system.)

“How the fuck does she know how to do that?”

“I may have told her how to…” Zari says guiltily. “I didn’t think she’d run away with it. I just thought she was curious. Oh no-“ Zari gulps. “You don’t think she-?”

“She’s a Lance. She’s stupid enough to try,” Charlie shrugs.

* * *

 

“The jump ship has landed,” Gideon informs them hours later.

Charlie stands up, Mick puts his sandwich down, but it’s Sara who runs to the Jumpship’s landing platform first. All the Legends had come back to the ship. Sara was desperate enough she called the Time Bureau for help.

The door opens and Sara pulls Renee in a bone-crushing hug. Renee tries to speak twice, only to be shushed by Sara. Then the crew tries to speak, and Sara shushes them too.

“I’m so mad at you right now, but I’m glad you’re okay. So here’s what we’re going to do: we’re going to stop by the med bay, check you for anything that could wrong, other than the sudden flood of stupidity of yours and then we’re going home and you’ll be grounded until Nathan gets married.”

“Damn, that’s harsh. I thought you were supposed to be the cool mom,” someone says.

Sara makes a mental list: it wasn’t Nathan, Charlie, Zary, Ray, or even Jude. Truth be told she recognized that voice. She could never forget it, which was a blessing as much as it was a curse. But it couldn’t be. And because of that Sara found herself shaking as she pulled away from Renee.

It’s Alex.

Her Alex.

Just as beautiful as the last time Sara saw her.

And wearing the same clothes. With the same hair. She even had the hickey Sara had sucked into her neck before she woke up. Ten years ago.

“Hey,” Alex says in that flirty voice of hers.

Sara feels her heartbeat accelerating and she can’t breathe as easily. It’s a panic attack. Sara had enough of those over the years to know what it is like. Renee said it was understandable that she had them after all she’d been through, and Sara knew Renee got her brains from Alex because she couldn’t have raised a kid that smart. And she learned a few tricks to deal with it, the grounding was always the hardest part. The fact that her dead wife is standing in front of her just made it harder.

Sara stares at her for what feels like an eternity sure that she’s dreaming.

She’s not.

“Med Bay. Now.”

* * *

“Eventually they are going to figure out you’re hiding,” Jax says. Sara curses silently.

He feels like a ghost. She knows it’s not. He’s alive. He got out even before Alex died, and how right he was at doing that. She envied him, and she didn’t. She knew how hard it was Stein’s retirement for him. She should’ve done the same. She should’ve given the captain’s hat to Ray, and jumped to National City with Alex and the girls.

Sara put her captain face on. That face that always had a solution for whatever trouble they faced (the one that she wore even when she was thought they were diving into certain death).

“I told you not to let anyone in, Gideon,” Sara complains.

“Technically you’re no longer Captain, Captain Lance. And I thought you needed it.” And Gideon is right. About both things.

Minutes later, Sara and Jax are sitting on the floor. There’s Whiskey bottle open (it was either that or Bourbon and since Bourbon was – is - Alex’s favorite Sara couldn’t bring herself to take it). Jax barely touches his drink while Sara is pouring herself the third glass. Jax is silent.

“I saw her,” he confesses eventually. There is no reaction from Sara. “Jude called and told me what happened; I just had to see it. I couldn’t believe she was here,” he says. “But she is. I hugged her. I talked to her. It’s really her, Sara. Your wife who died ten years ago is here, and what I can’t understand is what are you doing here?”

“God, how many people did she call?”

“Everyone, I guess.”

Sara looks at Jax. He’s aged. He has a twenty-years-old son that looks just like him and another three-years-old that sounds just like him. And he’s such a dad. And this pep talk probably works great with his kids but Sara is not a kid. Hell, she was practically Jax’s mom during his time in the WaveRider (she was everyone’s mom, except for Snart's and Alex's).

Now that isn’t true anymore

“I lost the count of how many times I dreamed she was back," Sara starts. "The first year after it happened, I hated to wake up because in my dreams Alex was always back. There were several versions of it and each one made it hurt to wake up and find out it wasn’t true. After the first year, it became easier. I lost hope. I thought, huh, a massive explosion was enough to take away my wife, but I still have my kids. And I lived, although the pain of not having Alex around, I lived. And now she’s here and, God, help me if this is some kind of dream or some play of the universe like, here have five more minutes and not a second longer, I don’t know what I will do, Jax. And I can’t tell them that. Principally Jude and Renee.”

He is silent for a while. She’s thankful for it and sips her glass again. She’s glad he’s there. Even after all this time, he’s there. He’s centered and just what she needs at that moment. She thought for the longest time that he’d take over after her. She is not dueling in what-ifs. Not when she had a problem to deal with a couple rooms away.

Problem? No, that is not right. Alex is not a problem. She is a God damn miracle.

“What’s our motto?” Sara frowns.

“Sometimes we fuck up things for the best?”

“That too, but I was thinking more about: we make things up as we go.” Sara agrees with both. “What I mean is that this is real. The only thing we can do is deal with it. And Jude and Renee. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them so happy, or in the same room without fighting for the matter.”

“It’s been ten years.”

Sara is scared, is what she means. It’s been ten years and for Alex... for Alex it’s been minutes, maybe hours. Sara’s changed. She has a mom car. The latest she goes to sleep is at eleven. She is not the same girl Alex fell in love with. And she’s still in love with Alex, but what can guarantees Alex will be in love with this version of her? And the girls. Alex missed so much. What’s that going to be like?

It’s been so long.

“Yeah. But do you what to be longer?” Jax says. Sara hadn’t realized she said it out loud.

“Hey,” Sara hits him. “I’m the wise one!”

* * *

“Hey,” Sara says entering the bridge. She has her hands in her pocket, and she’s trying to not let on that she’s freaking out. How can she not? Half of her brain cells are freaking out over the fact that Alex is right in front of her. The other half is freaking out over how beautiful Alex looks.

“Hey stranger,” Alex says with a smile. They are in opposite sides of the room and Sara can’t bring herself to cross it.

“C’mon guys. Let's give the lovebirds some privacy,” Leo says. They really called everyone, even the professor. The only one who was missing seemed to be Kara.

Sara and Alex wait as they leave the room. Jude and Renee hesitate in doing so, but Alex reassures them that it won’t take long. Once they are finally alone Sara realizes how that is actually worse.

The two stand in front of each other several feet apart without saying anything.

“Hey,” Sara says deciding to break the silence.

“You said that already.”

“I don’t know what to say. You are here.” For the first time, Sara opens a smile. “You are alive.”

“How about-“ Alex walked until was inches away from Sara. She puts one of her hands on Sara’s neck and the other on her waist and Alex moves for a kiss.

For a moment Sara is caught of guard, unable to react to the kiss. But it’s a brief moment that she soon recovers to respond to it, pulling Alex back into it. It’s been too long for the kiss to be short. Sara needs it to know that it’s real. And as the kiss continues Sara wonders if it’s worth breaking it in the sake of breathing. How relevant is breathing?

“Those are my moves,” Sara says once Alex breaks the kiss. Still, they can’t bring themselves to pull away from each other, resting their forehead together. “I missed you.” Sara’s voice cracks as the first tear escapes her eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere anymore.”

Sara lets herself sink into Alex’s arms.

There’s a lot to figure out, but they can have this moment.

* * *

“What do you mean there are no consequences?” Sara asks Gideon, avoiding to look at Renee. Her youngest was sitting by the steps pulling her puppy eyes that made everyone melt, and leaning against Alex. If Sara looked at it, she knew she’d say ‘fuck it’ and just go home with her daughters and her wife.

“I did not say there were no consequences. I said that there were no relevant alterations to the timeline.”

“But what does that mean?” Jude asks leaning against the door.

“It means-“ Martin fixes his glasses, “-that there is no reason why your mother can’t stay.”

“So the loophole worked?” Renee asks.

"The loophole worked!" Zari high fives Renee.

“Yes. I’m still trying to understand how,” Sara says.

“From the data I gathered it seems Miss Lance-“ and with four Lances on the ship that required further specification, “-Renee, was able to time it precisely to the moment of my last communication with Alex and pull her into the time ship before the explosion that would’ve caused her death using a device from the Time Bureau.”

“I’m not writing that report,” Charlie says.

Sara couldn’t help but agree. Surely that was something she didn’t miss.

* * *

 

Going home is weird.

The girls are all over Alex for the rest of the day until late at night. Sara keeps herself busy making dinner and tidying up the place while the girls catch up with their mother. She’s also buying herself some time. After their kiss in the bridge, they hadn’t interact much and Sara had come to the realization that it had passed ten years,

A lot has changed in ten years. A lot has happened in ten years.

(Like the fact that Sara briefly dated Alex’s doppelganger from Earth-1, and Sara was trying to figure out how to tell her wife that.)

After dinner, Sara puts everything away in the dishwasher. Alex couldn’t even argue against it because the girls were pulling her back to the couch and continuing to tell her stories. Once Sara’s done with the dishes she just watches her girls for a while. She’s not sure if she has ever seen Jude and Renee this happy. Even Jude’s initial reluctance had faded away.

But Alex- There was something off. Something Sara felt like she should be seeing. It becomes clear what it is when she sees Alex yawning. She’s tired. And of course, she’s tired. Ten years ago in that fatidic day, they were up for over thirty hours with little rest. Alex must be exhausted, and Sara sees it in the longer blinks and how she’s struggling to pay attention to her daughters.

“Hey, girls, it’s time to bed,” Sara says.

“But moooom,” the two say in perfect union.

“Your mama will be here tomorrow. Besides as her wife, I have rights to her as well, so unless you’d like to watch as a shag your mom…”

There was a choir of ‘ew’s and the girls surrendered to Sara’s will. They say goodnight to Alex with a long hug and Alex kisses their head. Renee lingers for a bit longer on her bedroom door, and Sara wants nothing more to assure them that this is real. That Alex is back because they probably have the same fear as Sara: that this is some kind of torturous dream.

Sara gets the liquor cups and pour in them two fingers of Bourbon and takes them to the couch.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Alex says after Sara handed Alex her glass. She lets out a sweet ‘mmmm’ with the first sip, and Sara opens a smile. Some things never change.

“I figured you needed something to relax. And rescue from out two little monsters.”

“They are not so little anymore.” It comes out bittersweetly.

* * *

It doesn’t take long for Sara to figure out that she can’t sleep on the bed with Alex anymore. She’s not used to sharing the bed anymore, and she's not used to the way Alex’s legs keep invading her space. Sara had forgotten how annoying that was.

It’s around 3 AM when she can’t toss and turn on the bed anymore, and she moves to the couch. It’s uncomfortable, and her back is killing her by the morning, and even if she wanted, Sara wasn’t sure she could go to work like that. Standing straight was hard enough.

That leads to her being up at 7 AM. She uses the extra time in her hands to make some breakfast – and it’s only halfway through it that she remembers that it’s breakfast for four now. Sara goes to her bedroom to check on Alex. Alex is still there, and part of Sara can’t believe it. Part of Sara wants to crawl into the bed and just hold her all day.

Alex rolled on the bed until she was facing the door, where the light was coming from. She rubbed her eyes taking in the room, and then she turns back to Sara.

“Hey, what are you doing up?”

“Breakfast. You can stay in bed, I just came to check on you.” Alex ignores her and rolls once again until she’s sitting up and stretching.

Alex follows her to Kitchen Island sitting on one of the chairs. She has two piles of pancaked in front of her. More than enough for all of them, covered in aluminum paper to keep warm. There’s always an open box of cookies and some granola’s boxes in sight.

“Renee and Jude will take at least another hour to wake up,” Sara says once she sees Alex eyeing their rooms. “Those two could sleep through an Earthquake, so you can take a look at them if you want to.”

Alex slips away from her chair to do exactly that. Sara starts talking to herself. _You can? What the fuck, Sara. Alex is their mother too, she doesn’t need your permission._ The coffee machine sounds, and it couldn’t have been in a better time because Sara pours herself half a mug with some cream to go with.

It was going to be a long day. Or maybe it would be a week. Or even a long year - however long it took for them to get used to having Alex again.

Alex comes back with that smile that never quite reaches her eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Sara asks.

“Happy. Sad. Lost.” Same, Sara thinks. And maybe they still get each other like before. “I lost so much time with them- With you. It feels like I lost a piece of my heart. It feels like I’m waking up in a completely different reality.”

“Hey, we’re Lances. We fuck up shit, and we fix up shit. This will be no different.” Without noticing, Sara had reached for Alex’s hand, but given Alex’s lack of denial to it, Sara decided to leave it there for now. “Now it’s important to focus on the present. You’re here. You’re alive. And you have two amazing daughters who missed you like crazy.”

“I also have my amazing wife.” Alex smiled. “The girls told me so much about them last night. Apparently, Renee is a Buddhist now, Jude was in Soccer Team at High School. Renee wants to be a lawyer and Jude wants to be an engineer.”

“It’s the other way around. Jude wants to be a lawyer, Renee wants to an engineer. Aero, by the way.” Alex bulged her eyes. Sara smiled, she imagined it might be too much to take in at once. “You have time to get to know them. There’s no need to rush it.”

“What about you? What have you been up to these last ten years? You left the Legends, I didn’t expect that.”

“I mean- we talked about retiring. After... After we lost you, it didn’t feel to stay anymore. We stayed with your mother for a while. The first year without you I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it. Eliza, Kara, and Lena saved my life. Oh shit, Kara. She’s going to kill me.”

This time Alex is the one to reach for Sara’s hand. “I know. I was thinking about her last night, but I need a few more days to get everything in place, then I’ll call her.”

Sara wanted to argue. If it was her sister back from the dead, Sara would’ve wanted to know straight away, but Sara doesn’t want to fight with Alex. Not anytime soon. Sara just nods and stars picking on one of the pancakes.

“After that, we moved here. No to this apartment, but for this city. I got this gig at a gym two blocks from here.”

“That sounds nice.”

A yawning noise comes from the bedrooms and they see a sleepy Renee exiting her room. She sits on the bench next to Alex and leans against her mother. Renee’s eyes are not even open yet, and Alex embraces her. She says something non-understandable and Sara puts a mug in front of her and pours in a tea that was already ready on the stove.

Renee seems to awake by the smell of it and pours a considerable amount of honey in it. Alex’s eyes watched her daughter, worried about capturing every little information she could.

“I was scared you wouldn’t be here,” Renee says after her first sip on her tea.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alex reassured her.

* * *

Turns out Kara is too happy to be pissed.

The girls are always happy to see their aunt, so when Sara announces their trip to Earth-38 they are all in. After the second day, the girls were finally giving Alex the room to breathe. Sara was trying to get used to sleeping in the same bed as Alex, managing to stay there an hour longer than the first night.

When they arrive in Earth-38, in the middle of a Danvers-Luthor breakfast, they are all speechless and Kara’s reaction is self-explanatory.

“Sara, what did you do?”

“Well, that’s a warm greeting,” Alex says teasingly. Kara seems to have picked up something, and she looks at Sara for confirmation.

“It’s her,” Sara says. “It’s really her.”

The ‘how’ gets delayed for a few hours because Kara spends an incredible amount of time hugging Alex. And then, of course, Lena had her turn, and they called J’onn, and Winn, and everyone they could think of. And Kara had yet to introduce her sister to the latest two additions to the Danvers-Luthor family: a four-year-old Theodor, and little Alexandra still in Lena’s belly.

“You named her after me?” Alex asks. Lena positioned her hand so she could feel her niece kicking.

“I hope you don’t mind.” Kara was nervous and the hug Alex pulls Kara into dissolves all her worries. The Danvers understood each other. “I missed you so much.”

* * *

It’s lunch when all the rainbows and unicorns are gone.

“How’s mom?” Alex asks.

Kara’s mouth falls open. She looks at Sara and at Lena. All other table member exchanges a look between each other. That tells Alex bad news is coming.

“Mom passed away a few years back.”

Alex is not sure how, but suddenly she and Kara are the only ones remaining in the room. Cancer, Kara tells her. Alex is in shock and denial, and reality only downs on her later that night with Sara holding her in bed. For the first time in the last three days a horrible thought crosses Alex's mind: maybe I wasn't supposed to be back.

* * *

They go back to Earth-1 because the Renee has school, and Jude has college, and there are only so many days she can miss – even if her mother was back from the dead. Alex promises to come back soon, and Kara teleports with every chance that she can.

They try to fall into some kind of routine. After the second week of Alex’s return, Jude goes back to the Gotham University – at hearing Gotham, Alex doesn’t want to let her go, who’d let their kid go to such a dangerous city? She asked. Sara takes advantage of it and starts using Jude’s bed, or else she’d fall asleep in the middle of work. Sometimes Renee sneaks in between Alex and Sara, and those nights Sara is thankful because she has an excuse to be asleep on her daughter’s bed.

Alex spends the first month catching up. Winn makes a pen-drive of everything she needed to know about the last 10 years in Earth-38, and Cisco does the same with Earth 1. They both include crossovers photos because - although the almost end of the world they faced every single time - it was quite fun to get everyone together.

"We have to do it again soon," Cisco says.

* * *

 

Two months after Alex return, she announces she’ll be going to Earth-38 for a while.

“You just came back,” Renee says, heartbroken.

“I know. It’s just for some time. You can visit me anytime.”

“Visit you? You were gone for ten years, and now I can ‘visit you’?” Renee doesn’t stay to hear a reply. She storms out and harshly closes the door. For a Buddhist, she had to work on her anger.

“She’s not wrong, you know?” Sara says.

“I do, but I’m not sure how long I can sleep in that bed pretending you are next to me. Don’t try to deny it. You owe me better than that. And I need to do this, to process. Be away from everyone for a bit and figure out where to go from here. And I think you do too.”

* * *

Kara cringes at the sound of a broken nose. The guy falls back covering his bleeding face, and Alex turns to the rest of them. Half of them have already run, the remaining were either unconscious or about to get their asses kicked.

The remaining one looks around knowing he's alone to face Alex's wrath. He gives up and raises his hands. Alex presses her lips together in disappointment and Kara signal the agents come and arrest those who are still awoken.

"Thanks for letting me tag along," Alex says as they are leaving the warehouse. She opens and closes her hand trying to get a feeling on her fingers. That may have been over the top.

"Don't thank me, thank Lucy. She was the one who authorized it." Alex lets out an 'ugh'. "Besides, it looks like you were needing it. How is everything?"

"It's better. I love Sara and the girls, but being with them... It's a constant reminder of everything I missed. And it's selfish of me, but part of me was kind of mad at them for moving on. Sara's got a job - like an honest and normal job. Jude is in college. Renee... She's not a toddler anymore."

"If it makes it better, it wasn't easy to move on."

"I know. I'm glad they moved on. It's what I would've wanted. I'm just trying to make peace with that part of myself and being with them didn't help, it just hurt."

"Maybe they were hurting too. You don't need to do it now, but I think you should talk to them about it and about how you're feeling. Especially with Sara. Pizza, tonight?"

* * *

Renee spends the weekends with Alex, and Jude drops by every now and then. For the first month, Sara keeps her distance. She knows when she's being pushed away.

The second month is harder.

Renee stops going to Midvale every weekend – there was some fight with Alex, but Renee doesn’t give Sara anything specific. That leads to a fight between Renee and Jude, and those are the worst fights. It all started with Jude saying that maybe Renee shouldn’t have brought Alex back.

“She’s our mother,” Renee says.

“She hasn’t been for the last ten years. Hell, she hasn’t been for the last four months!”

“Jude,” Sara starts trying to give this fight an end before it gets worse.

“You think you’re the only one who misses her. I miss her too, but I got the balls to admit that maybe this shouldn’t have been this way. Maybe she wanted to die after all.”

“She’s our mother. She said she’d have never left us if she could!” Renee raised her voice. Sara’s eyes bulged.

“Girls…” Sara continues being ignored.

“She should’ve thought of that before exploding a ship with herself in it. And if she never wanted to leave us, then why isn’t she here, huh?” Renee stands up, and Jude follows right after. Sara gets a feeling they are about to jump at each other’s throat, so she stands up as well.

“Bedroom. Now!” Sara says in the voice the girls don’t dare to question. They give each other a hate-filled look and go to their respective bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Sara stood by the dinner table trying to figure out what to do.

* * *

“Hey, Sara is everything alright?” Ava says from the other side of the line. Hearing her voice, Sara regrets ever calling her. It has been a handful of years since their break up, but it still hurts Sara.

“Yeah, never mind. I shouldn’t have called.”

“Is this about Alex?” Ava asks before Sara can hang up. Sara comes to the realization that of course, Ava had gotten the report. “I will tell you something, you Lance girls love some danger. I never expected Renee to be the one to do something like that.”

“Join the club.”

“And how is everything with Alex back?”

“They aren’t. At first, it was awkward and then Alex got her backs and left back to Earth-1. Now the girls are at each other’s throat because of it. And I’m just-“

“Lost? I can imagine. I know a thing or two about your world being turned upside down. This can’t be easy for you, but it’s also isn’t easy for her. How long has it been for Alex?”

“Ten years.”

“In some ways, she lost everything. She lost her kids, her wife… People change in ten years. She might need some time to figure out where she fits in this new reality. Have you talked about it?”

Sara shuts her eyes. No, they hadn’t talked about it. Sara was so concerned about giving Alex space that she never thought about talking to her about where to go. She just imposed into Alex a routine that was completely strange to Alex. That’s why she left.

“Thank you, Ava. I think I know what I have to do.”

“I’m glad I could help.”

“Why did you, though?”

“Despite the way things ended between us, I still care for you as a friend. As someone who helped me a lot when I was unsure who I was. And you deserve to be happy, Sara. And it would be a tragedy after all you and Alex when through if you don’t end up together.”

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

“Alien drinks, time travel, and now loopholes? It’s crazy,” Ava agreed with a laugh.

“Thank you. Call me if you ever want to get drinks and catch up.”

“I won’t say no because I’m curious about how this story will turn out.”

* * *

Arriving in National City, Sara is surprised to know that Alex is in Midvale. Kara makes her company there, and they talk about Alex on the way. Kara was worried about her sister. They find Alex in the garage working on her bike. At the moment she sees Sara, Alex steps on a grease pool and falls on her butt. Sara goes to help her, but Alex shoos her away and flees inside the house without another word.

Kara is confused for a second and follows Alex inside. Sara just waits as the two sisters talk for about five minutes. Kara comes out after that.

“She’s waiting for on the backyard.”

Sara feels her stomach turning. It’s her wife, she shouldn’t be nervous. She walks passed Kara and inside the house. Things look the same since Sara came for Eliza’s funeral, it is only a bit messier. Sara guesses it is due to Alex. She was usually organized, but when Alex was bothered by something her organization was thrown out of the window.

Alex had her backs to the house, only turning her head to see Sara approaching. Sara stood next to her wife.

“How’s your butt?” Sara asks. Alex frowns and turns to her just to see Sara smiling. Alex rolls her eyes.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Do you want me to go?”

“I don’t know what I want. Everything is so fucked up.”

“More fucked than I getting you pregnant thanks to an Alien drink?”

“In some ways, yeah. Back then I knew I had you, and I had Kara and everybody.”

“You still do.”

“No, I don’t. You changed, all of you did, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s inevitable. But for me, it’s been a few months. My Sara is still in the WaveRider. Renee is a toddler, and Jude is just starting her rebel phase. I lost ten years. Ten years I can’t get back.”

“You’re right. You lost ten years. Do you want to lose ten more?” Sara takes a step closer to Alex reaching for her hand. “I’m not the same Sara as ten years ago-“ she placed Alex’s hand on her heart. “But I’m still your Sara. If you’ll have me.”

“Do you even want me?”

“Are you crazy? Ten years without you only proved that I don’t want no one, but you.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t sleep with anybody since I died?” Alex teases.

“Pff, of course, I did.” Alex couldn't complain about Sara's honesty.

* * *

They move inside and into the kitchen. Sara explores the fridge trying to figure out what they are having for lunch – because apparently Alex has been living out of instant noodles for the last months and that can’t be healthy.

“I miss Gideon making things for us,” Alex says.

Sara laughs. That had taken her some time to get used to eating without Gideon. Sara tells her how thirteen-year-old Jude didn’t mind having Pizza every day of the week. Renee was still a toddler so Sara tried to buy healthier food for her. Eventually, Sara started taking cooking lessons.

“And you’re going to say this wasn’t about a girl?” Alex teases as Sara starts making some eggs.

“It wasn’t, but I won’t deny my partner was very cute. Things got heated once between us. And by that I mean I accidentally lit his shirt on fire.”

* * *

They move to the couch, eating Sara’s egg with rice and spinach. It is a good change from the pasta Alex was having for the last two months. The TV is off. The world was worse than how Alex remembered it. The hate, the prejudice… She didn’t want to watch that.

“Tell me about them,” Alex asks. Sara knows what she's talking about.

“Do you remember Ava from the Time Bureau?”

“No way…”

“She was the last one. It was about four years ago. I really liked her, and she really hit it off with Renee. It was quite amusing watching the two debate politics.”

“What happened?”

“Jude hated her. Soon when Jude started going on missions with the Legends the two fought badly, and it felt like I needed to take sides, and I did. I took Jude’s because she’s my daughter. She wasn’t right. What I did wasn’t right, and it led to Ava and I breaking up. “

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“She was the closest thing I came to a serious relationship after you. There were a lot of one-night stands and innocent flirting.”

"I miss our days of flirting."

"But ours were never innocent. I've been trying to get you into bed since the first time I saw you. Maybe we should do it."

"Innocently flirt?"

"No. I mean, maybe we should treat this as a restart. Let me take you out. Let's go on a date so we can know each other again."

And Sara thinks that may have been the best idea she had in the last four months.

"That sounds nice, actually."

* * *

Sara spends the afternoon showing Alex photos of the last ten years. She wondered why she didn’t do it sooner. They had moved closer together on the couch, and once again Alex’s weight against Sara felt right.

And then they get to about seven years ago, and Alex frowns looking at the photo.

“Who’s that?” Sara knows what she’s talking about.

“That is you. Well, not you you, but Earth-1 you.” Talking to Alex about Earth-1 Alex had been one of Sara’s main concerns since she got back. In some ways, it had been a fucked up coping mechanism, and Sara wanted to explain it the best way she could. “Once we moved back to Earth-1 the craziest thing happened one day. I ran into you in a café. Actually, Renee literally ran to you. It wasn’t you. It was Earth-1 you.”

“And you dated?” Alex didn’t sound mad.

“For a few months. But she wasn’t you, and it was unfair of me to expect her to be.”

The doorbell rings and Alex frowns murmuring something about killing someone if it was one of her neighbors again. She was dead, now she’s not, what’s so hard to understand?

Alex opens the door to see Jude and Renee looking like two puppies who just broke mama’s favorite vase. Sara gets up to join Alex at the door.

* * *

They have family dinner – and maybe it’s the better dinner ever. They all laugh and share stories, and Alex even gets Eliza’s Photo Albums. The girls are more than happy to hear those stories. Jude and Renee had made up during Sara’s absence.

They spend the week in Midvale in some sort of mini-Vacation, only going to National City on Thursday to go see the newest Danvers: Alexandra Danvers-Luthor. Or Lexie for short.

It feels good to be there for it. It feels good not to have missed it, and when it’s Monday, and they go back to Earth-1, Alex can’t help it but cupping Sara’s face and pulling her into a kiss.

* * *

It feels good to kiss Alex again.

Different from the first time they reunited. It feels weightless, and it's easy for Sara to pull Alex into another kiss. Other kisses follow. Sara’s not sure which one of them leads the other to bed.

They have to remember to be quiet with the girls just a few rooms away. But Sara still knows how to touch Alex, and Alex still knows how to touch her.

Everything is not perfect. There’s still some work to be done. But they got time to figure it out.

* * *

Sara turns on the bed, and soon she meets another body occupying the bed space. Her lips form a smile, and she embraces Alex’s form, her hand meeting her wife’s. She feels the ring on Alex's finger. Sara has to remember to get hers out of the drawer. She leans into Alex’s neck kissing the skin there.

That causes Alex to stir and lean further into Sara.

“Good morning,” Sara whispers. Her hand leaves Alex’s, only to go to her wife’s waist just where her tank top has ridden up. Alex murmurs something impossible to be understood, but the meaning is clear. Sara traces invisible patterns on Alex’s skin, with each movement approaching more Alex’s panties.

“Don’t start something you cannot finish,” Alex warns sleepily, her eyes still half closed.

“Have I ever let you down?” Sara whispers into her ear. “Try to be quiet.” And with that, she disappears under the covers.

* * *

Jude and Renee totally know what they were up to. They can't look at Alex and Sara in the eye for a whole week.

* * *

The next big reunion happens almost a year from then, and it takes place in Midvale. They throw it to celebrate Lexie’s first birthday.

Sara is on barbecue duty, fighting with Joe for the control of the grill. Every now and then she looks at Alex who is across the yard playing soccer with Theodor. Lexie is being passed from person to person – Lena stopped keeping a track on her youngest daughter, half of the people in the propriety were super-heroes anyway. Catherine was somewhere inside the house talking to Nora.

As for her own kids, Sara knew Renee was nerding out with Cisco and Winn about TV show theories – every now and then they could one of them get overly excited and raising their voices. Jude, on the other hand, was flirting with Jax’s oldest son, Martin. She was red as a tomato - Martin wasn't faring any better.

Sara felt two hands circling her waist and a kiss on her cheek.

“Hey there,” Alex says.

“Hey. Did Theo tire you out already?”

“Nah, he got hungry and went to find his mother. I thought it was time to check on my wife,” Alex said stealing another kiss from Sara.

“Hey! Keep it PG you two!” Jax teased from afar. Alex rolled her eyes.

“Get cooking, Cap,” Mick said sipping on his beer. (He was now retired from the Legends – and become a famous writer, who would’ve thought?)

Alex ignored them stealing a couple more kisses from Sara.

It was just another normal day in their big, crazy, dysfunctional family.


End file.
